Lithuania seeks joint defence projects with Lockheed Martin

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda met Lockheed Martin International President Jay Pitman in New York on Monday to discuss expanding the US defence company’s activities in Lithuania, LRT reported.

Nausėda said that after Lockheed Martin established a branch in Lithuania a year ago, the focus should now shift to specific industrial cooperation projects.

“A year ago, I invited Lockheed Martin to invest in Lithuania. Today, the company already has a branch in our country. It is now rational to discuss expanding joint production projects,” the president said in a statement.

He said Lithuania had the expertise and potential to become an important part of Lockheed Martin’s supply chains and produce components for the company’s systems.

“Lithuania is a leader in defence spending within NATO. Strengthening defence capabilities today means not only procuring weapons. We must ensure that more production, maintenance and supply capabilities are developed in Europe. Lithuania is ready to become an important part of this process,” Nausėda said.

Nausėda met Lockheed Martin International’s then-president Michael Williamson in New York last September and invited the company to invest in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian branch of Lockheed Martin Global was registered in March 2026.

Lockheed Martin has also recently expanded its industrial cooperation in Europe. Together with Germany’s Rheinmetall, the company is seeking to localise ATACMS production. It is also developing an initiative with NATO allies to establish a PAC-3 missile maintenance centre in Europe.